Special Educational Needs/Disabilities Policy

Last reviewed: 1/10/2021

Ratified:  March 2021

Review:  March 2022

Rationale

Northside School strives for all pupils to maximise their life chances and participate as active citizens in society by experiencing a positive learning environment that has high expectations of everyone, values the differences of individuals, and offers respect and dignity to all.

All areas of school life are inclusive, indeed it is one of our core values. Teaching is tailored to provide both challenge and support, encouraging everyone to achieve their potential through a broad and balanced curriculum. We aim to achieve this by helping pupils overcome barriers to learning by matching tasks to pupils’ needs, adjusting the curriculum so they are able to fully participate in their learning.

Northside Values

RESPECT – to respect our needs, beliefs and each other.

PRIDE –to have confidence in our abilities and celebrate success.

INCLUSION –to work together with families and our diverse community to become life-long

learners.

CHALLENGE – to have high expectations of ourselves so we achieve our best.

CREATIVITY – to creatively express our feelings and ideas.

RESILIENCE – to develop life skills so we fulfill our potential.

Aims
 The school’s aims and objectives are to:

• Enable all pupils to have full access to all elements of the school curriculum
• Ensure every pupil realises their full potential and optimises their self-esteem
• Identify, assess and provide for a pupil’s needs as early as possible
• Ensure that curriculum planning and assessment takes account of the type and extent of individual’s difficulties
• Create an environment that meets the SEND of each child
• Attain high levels of participation from pupils, parents and carers.
• Work in partnership with other agencies and schools
• Involve parents in supporting their child’s education
• Ensure that our pupils have a voice in this process
• Identify the roles and responsibilities of staff in providing for pupils SEND

This policy is based on documents published by the Department for Education (DfE):

• The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) code of practice (2015)
• Part 3 of the Pupils and Families Act 2014, which sets out schools’ responsibilities for pupils with SEN and disabilities
• The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, which set out schools’ responsibilities for education, health and care (EHC) plans, SEN co-ordinators (SENCOs) and the SEN information report
• The Equality Act 2010
• Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school
• Section 175 of the Education Act 2002, which outlines a school’s duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of its pupils
• Sections 88-94 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, which require schools to regulate pupils’ behaviour and publish a behaviour policy and written statement of behaviour principles, and give schools the authority to confiscate pupils’ property
• DfE guidance explaining that maintained schools should publish their SEND Information Report and policy online.

Definition of Special Educational Needs (SEND)

Some pupils have barriers to learning which result in SEND that require particular action by the school.

Pupils have ‘special educational needs’ if they have a learning difficulty that calls for special educational provision to be made for them.  Pupils have a learning difficulty if they:

• Have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of pupils the same age
• Have a disability that prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities generally provided for pupils of the same age (in schools within the area of the local educational authority)
• Are under compulsory school age and fall within the definitions above or would do so if the special educational provision was not made for them.

 Pupils may have a SEND either throughout or at any time during their school career. 

 The role of the Inclusions Leader

The Inclusions Leader at Northside School is Lucy Mulvihill-Ellis she is a member of the Senior Leadership Team

If you have a question about SEND at Northside please contact Mrs Mulvihill-Ellis at lmulvihill@northsideprimary.co.uk

 The Inclusion leader will:

• Positively promote and oversee the school’s policy for SEND
• Work collaboratively with pupils, parents, staff and governors to ensure the most appropriate interventions and outcomes for those pupils identified as having SEND
• Liaise with external agencies, including the LA’s support and educational psychology services, health and social services and voluntary bodies
• Contribute to the professional development of staff
• Oversee the records and monitor the progress of all pupils with SEND
• Organise and monitor SEND resources.

The Role of the School Governors

 School Governors have a duty imposed by law to ensure that:

• Teaching staff are aware of the importance of identifying and providing for pupils who have SEND
• All those likely to come into contact with pupils with SEND are aware of their individual needs
• All relevant documents are published onto the school website
• As governor Sangeeta Samuel is assigned to monitor SEND

The Role of the Headteacher

The Headteacher will:

• Work with the Inclusion leader and SEND governor to determine the strategic development of the SEND policy and provision within the school
• Have overall responsibility for the provision and progress of learners with SEN and/or a disability 

The Role of the Class teachers

 Each class teacher is responsible for delivering quality first teaching to ensure:

• The progress and development of every pupil in their class
• Working closely with any teaching assistants or specialist staff to plan and assess the impact of support and interventions and how they can be linked to classroom teaching
• Working with the SENCO to review each pupil’s progress and development and decide on any changes to the provision
• They follow this SEN policy

 Assessment, Monitoring and Support

Early identification is vital either from the school assessment process or parental concerns. The class teacher will discuss any concerns with the parents/carers at the earliest opportunity and seek their opinions and enlist their help. The class teacher will also liaise with the Inclusion leader and SEND team. Assessment data, observations and discussions in Pupil Progress Meetings will be considered. Termly targets, shared with parents, carers and the individual pupils, will be set and their progress monitored.

The Inclusions Leader works as part of the senior leadership team, using whole school tracking data as an early identification indicator.

We use a number of additional indicators of special educational needs:

• The analysis of data, including entry baseline and end of EYFS data, SATs, annual and termly pupil assessments
• The use of our local authority SEND criteria
• The following up of teacher concerns
• Following up parental concerns
• Tracking individual pupil progress over time
• Information from previous schools on transfer
• Information from other services

The Inclusions Leader maintains a list of pupils identified through the procedures listed; this is called the Special Needs Register. This list is reviewed each term when a detailed analysis of the list takes place.

Where concerns continue and parents/carers agree, external specialist advisory services will be sought, such as:

Educational Psychologist (EP); Speech & Language Therapists (SALT); Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHs),  Inclusion Advisory Service (IAS), Occupational Therapists (OT), & Oakleigh Outreach. Where specialist advice has been given, SEND support plans will be drawn up and reviewed at the end of each term.

SEND Support

Pupils will be offered additional SEND support when it is clear that their needs require intervention that is “additional to” or “different from” the well-differentiated curriculum offer for all pupils in the school i.e. they have a special educational need as defined by the SEND Code of Practice 2015.

In keeping with all vulnerable learners, intervention for pupils on the SEND list will be identified and tracked using the whole-school provision tracking. If the school has a concern they will discuss this with the parent/carer and the class teacher will in the first instance record this on our initial concern and monitoring record.

On rare occasions, where a pupil has a significant, severe and sustained need, it may be necessary to enter a multi-disciplinary assessment process with health and social care in order to consider the need for an Education Health and Care Plan.

If the child does have Special Educational Needs or Disability we suspect this may be the case then the class teacher with the Inclusion Leader will meet with the parent/carer to discuss this and plan the next steps and identify outcomes and provision.

For more detailed information on schools provision and procedures for pupils with Special Educational Needs or Disability please see the school's SEND Information Report on the school website.

Targets and Action Plans
All pupils on the Special Needs Register will have SEN Support Plans setting out outcomes and any provision made that is additional to and different from the usual classroom provision.

For pupils with an EHCP, provision will meet the recommendations on the plan.

Strategies for pupils’ progress will be recorded in a SEN Support Plan which will contain information on:  

• Short-term targets
• Teaching strategies
• Provision made
• Date for review
• Scaled score to indicate achievement
• The outcomes recorded at review

The SEN Support Plan will record only that which is different from or additional to the normal differentiated curriculum, and will concentrate on two or three individual targets that closely match the pupil’s needs. The SEN Support Plan will be created through discussion with both the pupil and the parent or carer. The plan will be reviewed each term with the inclusion of parents, carers and pupils’ views.

Access to the Curriculum
All pupils have an entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum that is differentiated to enable them to access the learning activities and experience levels of understanding and rates of progress that bring feelings of success and achievement.

The National Curriculum, Foundation Stage and, where necessary, the engagement model, are our starting points for differentiated planning that meets the specific needs of individuals and groups of pupils.  When planning, teachers set suitable learning challenges and respond to pupils diverse learning needs.

Generally, all pupils with SEND will join in all activities of the school with pupils who do not have SEND. In exceptional cases, in which part of the curriculum is deemed inappropriate, the Headteacher may give a special direction for either modifying or not applying the National Curriculum for the child for a period of up to six months (section 19 of the 1988 Educational Reform Act).

Pupils may also receive help from support staff and/or have learning aids. Where necessary, to maximise learning, pupils may occasionally work in small groups or in a one-to-one situation outside the classroom.

The range of provision may include:

• In class support for small groups with an additional teacher or Learning Support Assistants (LSA)
• Small group withdrawal with LSA or teachers
• Individual class support / individual withdrawal
• Further differentiation of resources
• Interventions
• Provision of alternative learning materials/ special equipment
• Provision of additional adult time in devising interventions and monitoring their effectiveness
• Staff development/training to undertake more effective strategies
• Access to Specialist Teaching and Educational Psychology Service Steps or other support services for advice on strategies, equipment, or staff training

Monitoring Pupil Progress
Progress is the crucial factor in determining the need for additional support. There are different measures of progress but those used at Northside include:

• Narrowing of the attainment gap between pupil and peers
• Preventing the attainment gap widening
• Showing progress
• Showing an improvement in self-help and social or personal skills
• Showing improvements in the pupil’s behaviour

Education Health and Care Plan

Request for Assessment

The school will request a Statutory Assessment from the LA when, despite an individualised programme of sustained intervention within SEN Support, the pupil remains a significant cause for concern. A Statutory Assessment might also be requested by a parent or outside agency.

Education Health Care Plans

An Education Health Care Plans (EHCP) will normally be provided where, after a Statutory Assessment, the Local Authority (Barnet) considers the pupil requires provision beyond what the school can offer. However, the school recognises that a request for a Statutory Assessment does not inevitably lead to an EHCP.

Reviews of an EHCP

Pupils with an Education Health and Care Plan will have an Annual Review of their statement/plan. (Biannually if under 5)

Our school will comply with all local arrangements and procedures when applying for

• SEN contingency funding
• An Education Health and Care Plan
• Referrals to external agencies

Our review procedures fully comply with those recommended in Section 6.15 of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2015) and with Barnet’s guidance - particularly with regard to the timescales set out within the process.

We invite parents & will always try to involve the child in the review and will do this by discussion prior to the meeting.

Specialist Provision

 The main building, halls and nursery have wheelchair access and there are toilet facilities for disabled pupils and staff. There is currently no wheelchair access to upper floors.